Crystal Marshall thesis exhibition: 'WHAT WAS, IS AND IS TO COME'

Crystal Marshall’s M.F.A. thesis exhibition presents neo-surrealist oil paintings and sculptural installations that address three major themes: Afro-Caribbean identity, spiritual liberation, and technological evolution. The works depict atmospheric and refracted light juxtaposed against deep recesses of galactic space and foreboding technological constructs. The illuminations serve to permeate and reveal interdimensional, otherworldly, and intangible connections between psychological spaces of introspection and a fervor for ascertaining spiritual awakening.

Across her works, Marshall often depicts isolated figures suspended in nonlinear, phantasmagorical sequences set within immersive, inundated compositions. Each work relays idiosyncratic feedback from a place of abjection and isolation, reflecting third-culture displacement from the artist’s personal perspective as a second-generation immigrant and a woman in the tech industry. The exploration of Afro identity in the work offers dialogue and deviation, exhibiting Afrocentrism while confronting a value system predicated on technology’s reconstruction of humanity. Narratives in the work follow a past, present, and future template, revealing reverberations of endless cycles for generations to come.

As society becomes more globalized, sublunary, and technologically advanced, WHAT WAS, IS AND IS TO COME poses and dissects these critical questions: Are we on a true trajectory of positive evolution or are we in a cycle repeating the mistakes of the past? Will we be able to distinguish between the hyper-real and natural order?

Opening reception: Friday, Oct. 4, 4–7 p.m.

This exhibition is presented as part of Atlanta Art Week.